Looking Through The Eyes Of Love
by autumnrose2010
Summary: An alternative ending to the episode 'The Enchanted Cottage.' What if Mary really had regained her sight?
1. Opened Eyes

Mary waited impatiently as the bandages were removed from her eyes. In mere moments she would know whether or not the operation had been a success, whether she would once again be able to see the wonders of nature, the faces of those she loved.

The loss of her sight had been such a cruel blow to Mary. For so long she had felt so helpless, so bitter, so completely without hope that she could ever be happy again. Then Adam Kendall had entered her life, had patiently but firmly taught her that life did indeed go on, that even without her sight she could still have a future. Their friendship had blossomed into love, and the two had wed.

As Adam's wife and a fellow teacher at the blind school, Mary had come to feel that her life was reasonably complete, and only occasionally felt sad about all that she had lost. Then one day she had seen a ray of light shining in through the window, and hope had blossomed once again - hope that perhaps she could truly have back everything that she thought that she had lost forever.

"Are you ready, Mary?" asked the physician.

"As ready as I'll ever be!" Mary replied. She felt the last of the bandages being pulled away and then...she _saw. _She saw the doctor's face, and beyond that, she saw the light tan of the walls, the white of the ceiling, the dark brown of the floor.

"I can see!" Mary screamed with excitement as she jumped to her feet. Tears of happiness streamed down her cheeks as she danced around with joy.

"I'm so glad the operation was a success," said the smiling doctor as Mary hugged him and kissed his cheek.

"I want to see Adam!" Mary exclaimed. Although she knew every intimate detail of her husband's body through her sense of touch, she had never before seen his face.

The physician opened the door of the waiting room and called his name. A moment later, he hesitantly entered the room. Mary saw that he was tall and slender, with short, slightly curly brown hair and blue eyes. She went to him and expertly ran her fingers over his face. Yes, it was Adam.

"Oh, Adam." Overcome with emotion, she clung to him tightly.

"I hope you're not disappointed," he said with a smile.

"Oh, no, not at all!" she quickly assured him. "How could I be?"

He looked greatly relieved.

"You're everything I ever imagined you to be, and more," she continued. "And Adam...even if you had turned out to be homely, I wouldn't love you one iota less."

He beamed. "Would you like to meet the others?"

"Oh, yes!" she cried eagerly.

Her parents still looked much the same as they had the last time she had seen them, of course. Laura and Carrie were taller, and Grace had grown from the infant she had been when Mary had last seen her to an active toddler with curly blonde hair and big blue eyes.

"Why, you've gotten so big that I didn't even recognize you!" Mary exclaimed as she scooped the little girl up into her arms and cuddled her.

Mary was so overjoyed to see her family again that she didn't even notice the passage of time until Adam gently touched her elbow and told her that it was time to go home.


	2. Nothing's Ever Going To Change That

During the carriage ride home, Mary's eyes hungrily drank in the sights all around her, seeing the town for the very first time. _I forgot how green the leaves were, and the grass, and how blue the sky was..._ She refrained from crying out joyfully because she didn't want to make Adam feel sad.

"Why so quiet?" Adam asked her after awhile.

"There's just so much to see..."

Adam laughed softly and patted her knee and she knew that everything was all right. When they arrived home, she climbed down from the carriage first and waited for Adam, and they walked inside together, as was their usual custom. As badly as Mary wanted to skip joyfully around the yard, she quickly suppressed such thoughts out of consideration for her husband.

Once inside their home, Mary left Adam's side to quickly flutter around each room, examining its contents.

"I can't wait to see each of our students," she told Adam and, to her relief, he smiled. "I'm sure you'll get your chance soon," he told her.

"I just can't get over how...how _handsome _you are, Adam," Mary told her husband. "And how lucky I am," she quickly added.

"Well, I think I'm pretty lucky as well," Adam replied. "Even though I can't see your face, I know that you're beautiful. You have inner beauty that shines forth in everything you do, and that's why I love you so much."

He words touched Mary, and she felt a warm glow of happiness inside.

Classes were over for the day, so Mary spent the rest of the afternoon just readjusting to the world of sight.

"You don't have to start back teaching again tomorrow if you don't want to," Adam offered. "If you'd like a few days to simply get used to your new life, that would be no problem at all."

"Oh, no, that's all right," Mary said quickly. "Teaching _is _my life, and I can't wait to get back to it."

Adam laughed indulgently.

That night he came to the bed shyly. "It's almost like our honeymoon night again, isn't it?" he asked.

"I want to see you, Adam," she murmured. He stood still as she slowly removed every article of clothing he had on until he was completely naked. Then her hands moved gently over every inch of the body she knew so well, noticing the swell of his collarbone, the softness of the hair on his chest, the indentations of his shoulder bones, the soft swell of his buttocks, every minute detail. When she was finished she took his hands and pulled him down onto the bed with her, where she made love to her husband as a sighted woman for the first time. Afterwards he held her and she closed her eyes and nestled her head on his shoulder, as was their habit, and things seemed just as they'd always been. Silently she listened to his deep, steady breathing.

"Did it feel any different to you?" he asked after awhile.

"Well...no, not really," she told him. "I mean...my eyes were closed for most of the time anyway, like they usually are."

"But what was it like for you before? Seeing me naked for the first time, I mean?"

Mary realized that Adam was now at a distinct disadvantage and felt a little bit guilty about that, but couldn't think of anything to do other than to give him plenty of reassurance.

"Adam, you were beautiful to me before, and you're every bit as beautiful to me now as you ever were. Nothing's ever going to change that."

Seeming satisfied with that answer, Adam was soon asleep, and so was Mary.


	3. Frederick Holbrook

Mary quickly adjusted to her return to the world of the sighted. She already knew her students well by the sound of their voices and the contours of their faces, so being able to see what color their hair and eyes were simply supplemented what she already knew about them.

She never tired of seeing Adam's face. Even when he didn't look his best, when he'd just awoken and was bleary-eyed with rumpled hair, to Mary he looked utterly adorable.

In the evenings and weekends, Mary spent many hours strolling the fields, her eyes drinking in all the wonders of nature that had been denied her for so long. Adam often accompanied her for the companionship, enjoying her lively prattle as she eagerly described everything she saw to him.

Mary was so absorbed in readjusting to the world of sight that at first she didn't even notice the subtle changes that were taking place in her body. She grew much sleepier than usual, and a bit hungrier as well, although the smell of certain foods she'd previously enjoyed now made her queasy. One morning she realized with a start that she'd missed her monthly courses for a couple of months in a row and knew that it was time to pay a visit to Dr. Baker.

That evening, Adam could tell that there was something different about his wife. He couldn't see her smile, of course, but he could sense that her movements were more brisk than usual, and he could hear her humming to herself under her breath.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I paid a visit to Dr. Baker this morning," she told him. "Oh, Adam, we're going to have a baby!"

"That's wonderful!" Adam grinned and embraced Mary. "When?"

"In about seven months. Oh, Adam, I'm so excited! I can't wait to hold our baby!"

"You're going to make a wonderful mother," Adam told her.

* * *

Mary's pregnancy passed smoothly. Her occasional nausea soon passed and she became voraciously hungry, sometimes having to restrain herself out of fear of looking like a pig.

One day toward the end of her pregnancy, Mary received an unexpected visitor.

"Grandpa!" she exclaimed as she embraced her grandfather, Frederick Holbrook. Then she looked around in confusion. "Where's Grandma?"

"Your grandmother passed away during the journey here," Mary's mother quietly told her. "Her body's been taken to the church, and her funeral will be tomorrow."

"Grandma's gone? Oh, no!" Mary began to cry. Adam heard her crying and came to see what the matter was.

"My grandmother died," Mary told him.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry!" Adam held her and comforted her as she cried.

Mary spent the rest of that day visiting with her parents and grandfather, reliving old memories. That night she lay in bed crying, and Adam held her and comforted her.

"How I wish she could have lived at least long enough to see her great grandchild!" she sobbed.

"I'm sure she's watching from above," Adam said consolingly.

The funeral was one of the saddest events Mary had ever attended. It reminded her of when her baby brother, Charles Frederick Ingalls, had died all those years ago. It had been before Mary had lost her sight. As she looked at her grandmother's casket at the front of the church, she remembered looking at Charles Frederick's tiny casket at his funeral.

One evening several weeks later, Mary felt a tight grip across her abdomen, followed by a gush of water down her legs.

"It's time to fetch Dr. Baker," she told Adam.


	4. Adam Charles Holbrook Kendall

Adam took his white cane and went to find the doctor. Mary lay down in bed and tried to relax. The contractions were still irregular and quite far apart, but they were getting more powerful. Mary took slow, deep breaths and imagined herself lying in the sunshine by a rippling brook.

After awhile, Dr. Baker and Caroline Ingalls arrived. Dr. Baker examined Mary and said that she had a while to go yet. Caroline began to boil water and gather clean blankets while chatting nervously with her daughter.

"How well I remember the night you were born," she told Mary. "We still lived in Wisconsin then. Your father had to travel a long way through the woods to fetch the nearest doctor. I was so afraid that he wouldn't make it back in time, but he got there just as you were ready to be born. Your head was crowning as he walked in the door."

"Lucky thing we live in Walnut Grove now, isn't it?" Mary mumbled. The contractions were stronger now, and she did her best not to cry out, although it was getting harder and harder not to do so.

The next few hours passed in a blur for Mary. In between contractions, she dozed slightly, only to be awakened by the next painful tightening.

Dr. Baker examined her again. "It won't be long now," he announced.

Suddenly the pain became almost unbearable and accompanied by an overwhelming urge to bear down.

"I want to push!" she cried.

Dr. Baker examined her once more. "Go ahead. You're ready."

Mary bore down with the next contraction. The relief was overwhelming. She bore down again with the next one.

"Keep going. You're doing really well," Dr. Baker said with a smile.

Mary waited for the next contraction, and when it came, she bore down with all her might again.

"The head is crowning," Dr. Baker announced. Mary felt a thrill of excitement go through her. It wouldn't be long now.

She pushed again and again. The shoulders slid out, followed by the rest of the baby's body.

"It's a boy!" Dr. Baker exclaimed.

"Oh, Adam!" Tears of joy were in Mary's eyes. As thrilled as she was at her son's birth, there was also sorrow that his father would never see him.

Adam was allowed into the room first, of course. He was all smiles as he came to Mary in bed and gently touched her cheek.

"He's beautiful," Mary told her husband.

Adam held out his arms, and Mary gently placed their new son into them. Carefully, Adam's fingers moved over the baby's face, examining his eyelashes, his nose, his lips.

"He _is _beautiful." Adam's lips met Mary's. "Thank you for our son."

Adam couldn't see her smile, but he knew it was there.

The next person to enter the room was Mary's grandfather.

"His name is Adam Charles Holbrook Kendall," Mary told him. "You're his family too, Grandpa."

"Thank you, Mary," said Mr. Holbrook.

After a few minutes, he and Caroline left, and Mary and Adam enjoyed some time alone with their new son.

"His hair is dark brown, and very fine," Mary told her husband. "And his eyes are a dark, smoky blue. Oh, Adam, how I wish you could see him!"

"That's all right." Adam chuckled. "I'll take you word for it."

"I love you, Adam," said Mary.

"I love you too, Mary."

Drowsy and content, Mary relaxed into her husband's embrace.


	5. Adam's True Calling

_A/N: This chapter is based on the two-part episode 'To See The Light', although I changed a couple of things so it's not exactly identical to that episode. Also, in my story the fire at the blind school never happened, so baby Charlie is still alive._

Mary sat in the waiting room, desperately hoping that her husband would be all right. Adam had just been injured in an explosion and taken into surgery. Mary had left one-year-old baby Charlie with her parents and rushed to the hospital as soon as she'd heard the news.

At last the doctor appeared. "He's lost a lot of blood, but he has an excellent chance of recovery," the doctor told Mary.

"May I go in and sit with him?" Mary asked.

"He's still asleep, but you may go in and stay with him for a few minutes," the doctor told her.

Mary entered Adam's room and saw her husband lying in bed with his eyes closed. He looked so pale and still that it just broke her heart.

"Oh, Adam, you just _have _to be all right!" she sobbed. "You just _have _to be!"

Adam lay unconscious for two days. Mary went back home and didn't eat or sleep for the entire time.

On the third day, Jonathan Garvey arrived with news. "Adam can see now!" he exclaimed excitedly. Mary rushed back to the hospital, where she found Adam still lying in bed, but awake this time.

"Hello, Adam," she said, a little shyly.

"Mary." He reached to touch her face, slowly running his fingers over her features. "You're even more beautiful than I ever dreamed you'd be."

"Just hold me, Adam," Mary said. She lay her head on the pillow beside his, and he did.

As soon as the doctor was absolutely certain that Adam had suffered no permanent damage from the concussion, he was allowed to return home.

As Mary had before him, Adam spent most of his first day at home looking at his immediate surroundings for the first time. What he loved most was watching his wife and son together. Charlie had grown to be a beautiful little boy, with dark blonde hair, clear blue eyes, and chubby cheeks. He wasn't old enough to understand what had just happened to his father, of course, but he knew that something was different now.

"I can see so much of you in him," Adam told his wife.

"I see quite a bit of you in him as well," she replied. "I always have."

The day passed quickly, and soon it was Charlie's bedtime. Mary watched happily as Adam carried the little boy into his room and tucked him into his crib. Then he took his wife's hand and walked with her into their own bedroom.

"Now I want to see _all _of you," he said softly. Slowly he undressed her, one article of clothing at a time, until finally she stood before him completely naked. Then he slowly ran his fingers over every inch of her body.

"You truly _are _beautiful, every inch of you," he finally said. Then he took her hand and lay with her on the bed, where he made love to her as a sighted man for the first time.

"Did the doctor tell you what made you regain your sight?" Mary asked as they lay cuddling afterwards.

"He said that there was a medical explanation for it," Adam replied. "I lost my sight because of a concussion, and it was a concussion that caused me to regain it. He thinks that the first concussion caused a blood clot to form that blocked my optical nerve from receiving signals from my brain, and the second concussion dislodged the blood clot and caused it to dissolve."

"That must have been such a shock to you to open your eyes and suddenly be able to see again."

"It was," "Adam agreed. "And it was also the happiest day of my life. Well, _one _of the happiest, anyway," he quickly amended.

The next day they went for a carriage ride in the wide open fields of the prairie.

"I want to run through the grass and feel the wind against my face," Adam told his wife as he stopped the carriage. "I haven't done that in so many years, and now I can do it again because I don't have to worry about being afraid of bumping into things anymore."

"All right, but be careful," Mary told him. He got out of the carriage and helped her out, and she stood holding Charlie as Adam ran across the field, whooping with joy.

"Look at Daddy go!" Mary exclaimed.

"Go, Daddy, go!" Charlie shouted, clapping his hands.

* * *

As the weeks wore on, Adam returned to his teaching position at the school, but on the weekends he began to spend a lot of time with a lawyer named Mr. Davis. He also began spending a lot of time in the evenings reading books about law.

"Before, I thought that teaching was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life," he told Mary. "But when I got my sight back, it opened up a whole new world for me. I no longer feel content as a teacher. I feel that law is my true calling, and my new goal is to become a lawyer."

The school year was almost over, and as the children prepared to return home for the summer, Adam got ready to travel to Minneapolis to take the exam to enter law school. Mary and Charlie went to stay with her parents while he was away.

Several days after Adam left, Mary was wondering why she hadn't heard from him yet when she received a phone call. To her surprise, it wasn't Adam on the other end of the line, but a man named Alan Barton.

"Adam asked me to call you," Alan said. "He's fallen ill and is too sick to get out of bed."


	6. Nice To Be Home

"I must go to Minneapolis right away!" Mary told her parents. "Adam has fallen ill!"

It seemed the train couldn't get to Minneapolis quickly enough. Mary prayed for the entire duration of the journey. "Dear Lord, please let Adam be all right!" At last she reached Alan Barton's home, where Adam was staying.

"I fell down and hit my head hard," Adam told him wife. "I woke up in the hospital. It was raining hard, but I knew that I had to finish the exam. I dashed out of the hospital and raced to the place where the exam was being given. I finished the second day of testing and returned to Alan's house and went to bed. When I woke up, it was three days later and I'd missed the final day of the exam. Now I'll have to wait until next year to take it again."

"Oh, no, you won't!" Mary cried. "After everything you've been through, the examiner will _have _to make an exception for you! I'm going to talk to him right now!"

The instructor was cordial but remained firm. "Those are the rules," he insisted. "I'm very sorry for what happened to your husband, and I realize that it wasn't his fault, but I can't make an exception for him."

"But you don't know everything Adam's been through!" Mary exclaimed. "He lost his sight as a young boy and only recently got it back. He has a wife and a young son to support. Becoming a lawyer is so very important to him. Please, please give him an opportunity to make up for the day he missed."

"Very well," the instructor told her. "Have him report for the exam first thing tomorrow morning. You should have been a lawyer yourself, Mrs. Kendall."

"Oh, thank you!" Mary exclaimed, rushing to tell Adam the good news.

The next day, Mary waited outside the building where the exam was being given for what seemed to her to be a very long time. She was beginning to wonder whether everything was all right when Adam appeared, looking triumphant.

"Well, how do you think you did?" she asked him.

"I waited until the examiner finished grading my paper. That's why it took so long," Adam explained. "I not only passed, but I received an almost perfect score!"

"That's wonderful!" Mary exclaimed, hugging and kissing him.

Then it was time for the long train ride back home. The return trip seemed to pass much more quickly for Mary than the trip to Minneapolis had.

Little Charlie was thrilled to see his parents again.

"Guess what, Charlie!" Adam said to his son. "Daddy's going to law school soon!"

"Law school," Charlie repeated.

"That's right!"

After they returned home, Mary prepared Adam's favorite meal in celebration. Then the family went for a carriage ride around town, then went back home, where they sat in the living room talking until it was Charlie's bedtime.

Mary gathered the little boy into her arms and carried him into his bedroom and lay him in his crib. Then she went to her own bedroom and began to get ready for bed herself.

She felt a pair of arms encircle her, then the softness of Adam's lips kissing her neck. She reached back and ran her fingers through his hair.

"It's so nice to be home," Adam whispered as he caressed his wife's body.

"It's nice to have you home," she replied, turning to kiss his lips.


End file.
